Five (OK six) things to keep an eye on for spring football

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/15/2013 - 12:24am

With spring football less than a week away, I figured now would be a good time to pose some early questions. Now, if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that spring football doesn’t really provide any concrete answers. Even if it appears you’ve learned something, you have to understand the situation. There’s an entire summer before the season begins. These games are basically just glorified scrimmages. Regardless, it’s always fun to project. So let’s begin with five points to keep an eye on heading into next week.

1. Who will play quarterback for Nease?

Both of the Panthers quarterbacks from last season are gone. Augie Debiase left for Providence and Joey Edden took his game to Bolles. What has that left behind for second-year coach Shane Matthews? I have no idea. I suppose we’re going to find out. At least to some degree.

2. What will St. Augustine’s offense look like?

I feel like we ask this question all the time. The Yellow Jackets have a way of finding stars when you think they’re in for a down year, something that really hasn’t existed under coach Joey Wiles. Quarterback Sandon Mims, wideout Bobby Mitchell and running back Levent Sands all graduated. Who will step in, especially under center? Once again, I have no idea. The only I can be sure of, however, is that the new supporting class will be very, very good.

3. How will Creekside and Ponte Vedra reload?

The two schools, which opened in 2008, should be well equipped at this point to replace outgoing classes. Even so, they have a lot to replace. Creekside lost quarterback Adam Sandin, running back Livio Hoxha and wideout Mitch Renda. Ponte Vedra bid farewell to their focal point Cole Mazza (RB), Matt Deegan (QB) and a couple of wideouts (they were more of a running team last season). Also, the Sharks lost basically their entire offensive line, one of the best in North Florida. So what will these teams put on the field? You guessed it, I have no clue.

4. What will Menendez look like under new coach Patrick Turner?

Personally, this may be the story I’m most intrigued by. Menendez has some real talent. Running back Trevon Bryant and linebacker Willie Harvey are two of the best athletes in the county. Quarterback Stefan Carter also has a ton of potential. Depth has been an issue in the last few years. The Falcons simply couldn’t recover once they suffered some major injuries. It’s always interesting to see how a new coach moves a program early on. Keep an eye on this as the summer continues. Turner is a high-energy guy from North Carolina. Should be fun to see how he navigates through the county.

5. Can FSDB continue to grow?

The Dragons had an amazing run last year. Most of that damage was done on the shoulders of quarterback Corey Koski, who nearly had a 1,000-yard rushing and 1,000-yard passing season last year. He would have if not for a cancelled game (most likely). Koski is gone now and coach Eric LeFors will have to find some new playmakers to keep the progression moving. LeFors’ positivity and added focus on the program were great signs last year. So, while I don’t know how exactly they will do it, I wouldn’t bet against the Dragons.

6. Sorry, I couldn’t cap the list at five. This is the final one, though. I promise.

My final question is districts and what we will see in 4-6A. Bartram, Creekside, St. Augustine, Nease and Matanzas are now grouped together. So, seeing as we talked about almost all of these teams already, let’s focus on the final county squad: Bartram. The Bears lost a lot of playmakers: Gabe Davis, Nick Uruburu, Marcus Taylor, etc. What they do have that basically nobody else in the county does is a returning star at quarterback. P.J. Blazejowski, who just picked up an offer from Arkansas State, was an All-County first-team player as a junior. Along with Carter from Menendez, he’s one of two returning QBs in the county. Blaze had the more productive season and will be relied upon heavily to put down some crazy stats. He had 36 totals TDs as a junior. So seeing how far he can take Bartram, and if they can finally get past St. Augustine, will, like usual, be fun to watch.

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1. Nease will be in for a long long long season
2.St. Augustine will always put something together when no one thinks they will
3.Both of these programs will look just as they did in 2008 (like a team full freshman)
4. Pedro will be the sleeper team that will sneak up on a lot of teams this year.
5. FSDB....... Next
6. This is finally the year that BT will not play the little brother role to SAHS. District champs in the making and it all starts with the leader Blazejowski.